After a surgical or other medical procedure, medical instruments used in the surgery or procedure are wiped to remove large or loosely held bone, tissue and/or blood and washed to remove any gross blood and/or tissue residuals. The instruments are then placed in a surgical tray and loaded into a case or cart for transport to a sterile processing department for further cleaning and sterilization. All of the instruments are manually inspected and hand washed in wash sinks before the surgical trays are placed in automatic dishwashers for continued processing through the department. Conventional cleaning products used for washing surgical instruments typically include enzyme solutions and preparations that are provided in concentrated form and are added to wash water for surgical instruments.
However, the enzyme solutions that are commercially available have several disadvantages. For example, the enzyme solutions typically have a relatively short shelf life that may be adversely affected by storage temperatures that may destroy or greatly reduce the effectiveness of the enzyme solutions before the solutions can be used. During use of the enzyme solutions, it is necessary to control the water temperature so that the effectiveness of the enzymes is not reduced. Directions for use of the enzymes suggest relatively long soak times for the enzymes to work on the organic materials on the instruments. However, throughput requirements in the sterile processing department may result in soak times that may not be sufficient for the enzyme solutions to effectively clean the instruments. The enzyme solutions may also contain other active ingredients, such as surfactants, pH buffers, and the like, that are chemically compatible with the enzymes in the solutions. Such other active ingredients may make it difficult to wash and rinse the instruments in the wash sinks once the enzymes have interacted with materials on the surface of the instruments.
Accordingly, what is needed is a cleaning solution or concentrate that does not exhibit the disadvantages of the enzyme solutions in current commercial use, but is as effective or more effective in cleaning the medical instruments in the sterile processing department of a hospital or medical facility. The cleaning solutions should also be relatively environmentally friendly so that disposal of the solutions does not create additional hazards.
With regard to the foregoing needs, the disclosure provides a medical instrument cleaning concentrate and method for cleaning medical equipment. The concentrate contains an active ingredient consisting essentially of (i) a biofilm permeation agent and (ii) a nonionic alkoxylated alcohol surfactant having an HLB ranging from about 5 to about 8, wherein a ratio of (i) to (ii) in the concentrate ranges from about 2:1 to about 5:1.
Another embodiment of the disclosure provides a method for cleaning contaminated surfaces of medical equipment. The method includes rinsing surfaces of the equipment with water to remove water soluble contaminants and waste material. The rinsed surfaces of the equipment are then washed with an active cleaning ingredient consisting essentially of (i) a biofilm permeation agent and (ii) a nonionic alkoxylated alcohol surfactant having an HLB ranging from about 5 to about 8, wherein a ratio of (i) to (ii) in the active cleaning ingredient ranges from about 2:1 to about 5:1. Next, the contacted surfaces are rinsed to remove traces of the active cleaning ingredient from the surfaces.
An advantage of the compositions and methods described herein is that the cleaning compositions are more stable than conventional enzyme solutions and thus have an extended shelf-life. Unlike the enzyme solutions, the compositions described herein may be rinsed substantially completely from the cleaned surfaces without leaving residual cleaning agents on the surfaces of the equipment. The cleaning composition described herein may rinse more rapidly from the surface of the equipment then equipment treated with the conventional enzyme cleaning solutions. Reattachment of lipid complexes to the equipment surfaces cleaned with the cleaning compositions described herein is inhibited by the cleaning compositions. Other benefits and advantages of the cleaning compositions of the present disclosure may be evident from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments.